Eating Seasonally for Autumn

How I prioritize in-season produce and cozy meals in the fall

Welcome back!

For the last few years, something I’ve tried to be intentional about is eating seasonally… prioritizing in-season produce and cooking meals that feel perfect for each season.

Autumn is my favorite time to do this, and it’s fairly easy, too: so much good produce is at its peak during the fall!

A particularly gorgeous Autumn Farmer’s Market haul from 2022.

Last year, I read this article from Country Living, and got some helpful tips for picking seasonal produce, as well as storing and cooking it.

Below is a list of fruits and vegetables that are typically “in season” during the autumn months (keep in mind that this can vary somewhat based on where you live… if you’re shopping locally, options will always be changing).

This list isn’t even all-inclusive; there is so much yummy, fresh food to enjoy this season!

I typically try to prioritize:

• pumpkin (of course)

• apples (another obvious choice)

• beets (and other root veggies)

• squash (butternut and acorn are our favorites!)

• brussels sprouts (I love these roasted)

• cranberries (I LOVE cranberries)

• eggplant (One of my current favorite dishes to cook is Eggplant Parmesan)

• potatoes (a yummy way to enjoy carbs while eating less gluten, one of our priorities right now)

• cauliflower (it’s so versatile!)

Once it starts getting cooler outside, I like to cook warm, nourishing comfort foods full of veggies. Eating healthy is one way we fight the “winter blues”, and warm foods are comforting and grounding.

Last year, our son was born in early November. I cooked a lot of soups/stews ahead of time and froze them so they could easily be heated up during those early postpartum days. I read The First Forty Days to learn about postpartum nutrition, and while I didn’t follow all of the advice to a T, I did find that eating warm foods was very helpful for me as I was healing (mentally and physically).

This is something I want to prioritize again this year, by cooking lots of warm meals like soups, stews, and roasted veggies.

A bowl of soup paired with good bread is one of my all-time favorite meals. I love most kinds of soups! (I’ll be sharing a post in a few weeks with some of my favorite soup recipes)

We currently buy sourdough from the store or make sandwich bread at home; my sourdough journey has been long and challenging so far, but I’ve figured out a lot of the “tricks and tips”, so I think I’ll be able to bake some loaves with my next starter! We’ve had a lot of travel recently, so I’m waiting until we return from our next trip to get a new baby starter going. Wish me luck! I’ll definitely share lil sourdough updates here and there.

This is the first week I’ve been prioritizing “autumn eating” (even though the temperatures are not quite ideal yet…). For Tuesday’s dinner, I made chicken kabobs with roasted beets and butternut squash. I kept the veggies simple with olive oil and sea salt to bring out the flavors.

How beautiful are these?!

I created this taco recipe recently, and absolutely loved it! We wanted a plant-based, autumnal meal and these tacos were delicious. The flavors were so perfect. It’s also a super easy dish to make, and most of it can be done as a “sheet pan meal” … always a bonus, in my opinion!

Find the recipe below:

Meals like these are a go-to in my kitchen because they’re simple, really yummy, and you can easily make plenty of leftovers. I pack a lunch for my husband 5 days a week, and for myself 2 days a week when I nanny. We do leftovers for almost all of our lunches (much more budget-friendly than buying ingredients for another meal), so it’s nice when a recipe is easy to make a lot of.

I really love sweet snacks but have been looking for healthier alternatives; I found this recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip bars last week and decided to give it a try. They’re so delicious! They definitely taste sweet, but I like that they have less sugar than other recipes I make. They’re gluten free (if you use GF oats), dairy free, and egg-free. I can also grab these as a quick addition to breakfast, which is helpful on mornings when me and baby need to be out the door by 5:30am.

(Follow me on Pinterest- I save all sorts of good stuff there!)

I made this stuffed acorn squash a couple of years ago- it’s another plant-based option and we really enjoyed it. For the filling, I cooked quinoa and added it to sauteed carrots, peppers, onions, and black beans. I halved, cleaned out, and baked the acorn squash before using them as cute little bowls for the rest of the meal. We loved this served with homemade focaccia (another dish getting some well-deserved attention on this site soon!).

Eating seasonally is so much fun, and it encourages me to be creative in the kitchen with each new season.

What are some of your favorite autumn dishes? I’d love to know!

Keep an eye out for all sorts of yummy + cozy recipes coming soon, including my favorite soups, bread recipes, and pumpkin baked goods.

Thanks for reading!